


Nobody's Perfect

by allonsyarielle



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Coming Out, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kent has a thing for hannah montana, M/M, literally that was the reason for this fic to even exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 12:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10966842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allonsyarielle/pseuds/allonsyarielle
Summary: Kent has a thing for Hannah Montana.  He is usually listening her songs before games as pre-game pump up music.  No one on the teams knows the content of that playlist, until suddenly one day someone finds out.





	Nobody's Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where the idea came from that Kent listens to Hannah Montana, but once it was in my head it wouldn't leave and this fic was born out of text messages with my friend and listening to the Hannah Montana soundtracks on repeat. It is also partly inspired by a guy from my college quidditch team who we always thought was listening to rap or something before games with the way he would get into the zone to his music until one day we found out it was actually Taylor Swift, like old school T-Swift because this was before 1989 existed.

As a rookie, Kent was always super secretive about his pre-game pump up playlist.  A lot of the other guys on the team would occasionally plug their phones into the bluetooth speakers in the locker room or on the bus and share their songs with the team, but Kent was a little bit embarrassed what the guys would think of him if they knew what he would listen to.  He really had two go-to playlists, Britney and Hannah Montana.  The Britney he could handle getting chirped for, because come on, it’s Britney, bitch!  But Hannah Montana, he didn’t really know how to explain that.  It was weirdly personal to him for a tween pop star.  Plus, it wasn’t even Miley’s more recent stuff, though he did own a few of her CDs, just the classic Hannah Montana tv show and movie soundtracks.  The connection to Hannah Montana was something he and his therapist had come up with when he started therapy the first time around.  He used to watch a lot of Hannah Montana with his sister because she loved it, and he found he could relate all too well to the whole living a double life, seeing as he was a closeted teen hockey player.  So, when he told his therapist music was something that helped him calm down, lyrics from the song “Nobody’s Perfect” kept coming back to him over and over again during his sessions.  Whenever he got too hard on himself for trying to be perfect to make up for his size, or his sexuality, or whatever other fault he put on himself, it was the song he turned to to remind himself that everything was alright, that he was enough.  Eventually, the team learned to just leave him be and no one really bothered him about his pre-game playlist.

To this day, no one except his therapist knew the content of that playlist.  That was until the Aces were playing the Falcs for the first time since Jack joined the team.  It was the first time since before the draft the two would be on the same ice together, and the first time ever, they’d be on opposing teams.  It still hurt a lot that Jack refused to come play with him in Vegas, but he was working on that with his therapist, now that he was back in therapy again.  He’d made a lot of mistakes in the past when it came to Jack and their relationship (if you could even call it that anymore), and he really did want to try and work on it and make it better.  Which was also why he had “Nobody’s Perfect” on repeat on his phone on the plane. 

Someone nudged Kent and he half opened one eye to see it was Jeff.  He clicked on his phone to pause the music to see what he wanted, because he knew Jeff wouldn’t be bothering him without reason.

“Dude?” Jeff questioned, eyes darting toward Kent’s phone screen.

Kent looked down and saw his phone background was displaying the cover art for the song he was listening to, which happened to be the Hannah Montana 2 soundtrack.  He just eyed daggers at Jeff, warning him off making any kind of chirp.

“Look, I just wanted to make sure you were alright.  You seem, I dunno, tense is maybe not the right word, but it’s the best I got.”

“I’m good.  Maybe not perfect, but,” he clicked the home button on his phone again to bring the display up again with the song title, “Nobody’s Perfect” with a shit-eating grin.

 Jeff rolled his eyes.  “Okay man.”  Then he added with a hint of chirp, “Hannah Montana…really, Parse?”

“Shut the fuck up, Swoops.”

 

* * *

 

Jeff would still chirp him occasionally since finding out Kent liked listening to Hannah Montana, but it was light-hearted.  And on more than one occasion when they happened to be sitting next to each other on a plane or bus, Jeff would find himself with one ear of Kent’s headphones listening along too.  Those songs were damn catchy.

Sometimes, when they shared a hotel room on a roadie, the tv would just happen to end up on Disney and neither one of them would change it.  Who said two twenty-something year old hockey players were too old for Disney Channel?

“She was wrong, Jeff, it’s not the best of both worlds.”  Kent was trying really hard not to start crying.  He was feeling pathetic enough.  But he was currently less than an hour away from his boyfriend’s house and they hadn’t seen each other in over a month, and wouldn’t even get to see each other any time soon because even though the Aces were on the East Coast, the Falcs were on a Western Canada roadie so they were on the literal opposite side of the continent.  Plus, Alexei had just texted him “Miss you ((((((((“ so yeah, that was why Kent was close to crying.  Not because of a show aimed at twelve year old girls.

Jeff carefully sat down next to Kent on the bed, clearly having picked up on the fact that there was more to this little melt down than the television show.  Kent still wasn’t out to his teammates.  It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, it was just that he spent so long hiding who he is, it was hard to stop hiding.  But Jeff was his best friend, well second to Alyosha, and he always meant to tell him, so now was probably as good of time as any.  He took a deep breath and decided to just go for it.

“So I know you never really asked why I have a thing for Hannah Montana and just kind of accepted it as a ‘Kent thing’, but um, there’s a reason.”  He paused.  Jeff nodded, showing he was listening and encouraging him to continue.  See this was why Jeff is his best friend.  “Okay, so I just started watching it because my sister loved it so it was always on whenever I was at my mom’s, but the more I watched, the more I started really relating to the whole living a double life thing and then somehow my therapist and I started using Hannah Montana as a way to sort out my issues.”  He could tell he was getting away from what he was actually trying to say and probably not making any sense.  He glanced up to see if Jeff was still listening, which of course he was, this was Jeff after all, then continued.  “Okay so I’ve basically been living between two personas of myself since I was like 14, but it only got worse the further into my career I got.  There’s ‘Media!Parson’ which is the me that most people know, because it’s the me I let people see.  They hockey star, the Vegas bachelor, playboy.  Whatever other adjectives the media wants to place upon me for my image that I just sort of take on.  And yeah, I play along with it, because it’s easier to be that guy to the public, but it’s not the real me.”

Jeff opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, then thought better of it and closed it again.  He had a pensive look on his face still so Kent paused again and sent him a questioning look to see if he was actually going to say anything before continuing. 

“And the other you?”  Was all Jeff said, letting Kent keep going.

“Right, so the other side of me,” Kent paused to laugh because that was not an intentional Hannah Montana reference.  “So the other me, sometimes in my head I think of as ‘Damien!Kent’.”  Jeff gave him confused look, clearly not getting the reference.  “Um, like Mean Girls, Damien, ‘too gay to function.’”  He paused to let that sink in before continuing again, watching the look of recognition on Jeff’s face.

“Oh.  Um.  So.  You’re —“

“I’m gay, yes.”

“That’s cool.  Wow.  Sorry.  I’m making this weird aren’t I?  Um I’ve never done this before.  I mean had someone come out to me.”

Kent laughed because, well, “I’ve never done this either, I mean come out to anyone.  Not in so many words, I mean.  The few people who know, just sort of found out.  Well, except my therapist I guess, but she doesn’t really count.”

There was an awkward tension in the room, neither man really knew how to deal with or what to do next.  Jeff finally broke the silence.

“So, um, can I ask why now?  I mean clearly this isn’t something that just surfaced, and it’s not like it’s the first time we’ve been in a hotel on a roadie watching Hannah Montana so that couldn’t have been the trigger.”

“Oh.  Yeah.”  Kent was feeling sheepish and could feel the flush rising up his neck and to his cheeks.  There was a reason he chose Damien from Mean Girls as the inner gay persona in his head.  It was a wonder he’d been able to stay successfully closeted for as long as he had because when it comes to his giant Russian boyfriend he really did just become “too gay to function.”  “My boyfriend had just texted me and I just miss him a lot.”

Jeff’s eyebrows shot to the top of his head in surprise.  “Boyfriend?  Fuck.  Parse.  Who is he?  How’d you meet?  How long have you been together?  Gimme the deets!”  Jeff was bouncing on the bed now like a gossiping school girl.  At least the awkward tension was gone now.  And Kent couldn’t stop smiling, because it was nice to have someone to talk to.

“Um, officially we’ve been together like 5 months, but I guess we’ve kind been a thing for like a year.  I’m kinda an idiot and didn’t realise at first that he had been taking me on dates for months and we weren’t just hanging out as friends whenever our schedules lined up.”  Kent shrugged, not really knowing what else to say.  He wasn’t very good at the whole deets thing, since he’d literally never had someone to talk to about things other than hockey.

“Aww, you seem happy.  I’m happy for you Kent.”

That warmed Kent’s heart.  He might also be crying again, because validation like that is not something he is used to, and it was such a relief to have easy acceptance from Jeff.

“Thanks, man.”

“So, do I get a name or picture, or something?  Come on, I said the deets!”

“Oh um.  Hold on.”  Kent grabbed his phone.  It was one thing to out himself to Jeff, but he and Alexei hadn’t actually talked about that yet other than Kent saying he “wasn’t ready” and he didn’t want to just go out another closeted player, even if he trusted Jeff not to say anything.  

_So I kinda just came out to Jeff_

_He asked about you_

_I mean he doesn’t know it’s you_

_I didn’t want to out you_

_so I guess I’m asking if I can tell him_

Kent’s phone rang almost immediately after he sent those texts.  It was a FaceTime call from Alexei.  Jeff was still watching him slightly confused. 

“Uh you could have just texted me back,” Kent said in lieu of a greeting.  “Jeff’s here too by the way.”

“I is assuming.  Proud of you, kotyonok.  Now put Jeff on phone.”  Kent blushed at the pet name and hesitantly turned the phone toward Jeff.  Jeff recognised the face fairly quickly.

“Mashkov.  You’re seriously dating Mashkov?”  Kent nodded, while Alexei responded with “Alexei.  You call me Alexei, or Tater now.  Friend of Kenny, friend of me.”

“Tater?”  Jeff questioned.

“Yes, like tiny potato.  Is hockey nickname.  Like Swoops.” Jeff laughed.  Clearly there was more to Mashkov, no, Tater, than the image in his mind of that angry Russian d-man if he let his teammates name him after tater tots.

“Okay, I think I like him already,” Jeff said, this time to Kent.

“Kenny, you come in screen too.”  Jeff turned to sit against the headboard, smushing himself next to Kent so they could both try to squeeze into frame.  “Good.  Jeff, I know you good man.  You good friend to Kenny.  You take care of him.”

“Dude, I thought I’m the one supposed to be giving the shovel talk!”

“What shovel talk?”

“Oh you know like when you give that ‘you hurt him you die’ speech to your best bro’s boyfriend.  I used to give it to all my little sister’s boyfriends all the time.  Scared the crap out of half of them, but she deserved the best y’know.  So does this one here,” he nudged into Kent’s side.

“Yes, Kenny deserve best.  Is why dating me.”  The grin on Alexei’s face could outshine the sun.  He was such a fucking dork, but Kent loved him for it.

“No, you are the worst.  The best boyfriend would not be thousands of miles away!  Maybe Jeff here should be my boyfriend instead.”  Kent threw an arm around Jeff’s shoulders while Alexei pouted on the screen.

“No offense, dude, but my type is a little more female.”

“Yeah, well you wouldn’t exactly be the first hockey player to make that excuse from my bed,” Kent laughed with a flirtatious wink.  

“Oh my god, I don’t even want to know,” Jeff exclaimed, playfully pushing Kent away.  Tater was laughing from the other end of the line, and Kent was too.  It was really nice to see Kent so happy.  Jeff had been worried about him.  “Okay, think I’m gonna go, let you two talk alone because I’m afraid if I stay here any longer things are gonna get weird.  But I expect a proper introduction when you guys are in Vegas in a couple weeks.”

“Yes, I make you consolidation dinner at Kenny’s place.”

“I think you mean consolation, and fuck you we are going to kick your asses!”

“Sounds good, man,” Jeff said in response, purposely avoiding getting pulled into their little lover’s quarrel as he exited to leave the two boyfriends alone.

 

* * *

 

The Aces did in fact end up beating the Falcs when they played each other a few weeks later in Vegas.  It was a close game though, having been tied for most of third period before the Aces had a chance to pull ahead with a good shot in the last minute of game play.

Swoops declined a ride from Kent back to his place for dinner.  He just did not want to be anywhere near that place when Tater arrived.  Ever since Kent had come out to him, he had not been shy about divulging way too much information about his relationship with Alexei, and Jeff really did not need to be in that apartment when the two boyfriends go to finally see each other off the ice and in person for the first time in months.

Jeff waited a good hour before heading over to Kent’s place.  He knocked and rang the bell when he got there, but after long enough of waiting to no response, he hesitantly unlocked the door with the spare key he knew Kent stashed under the doormat.

“You both better have some goddamn clothes on,” he yelled as he entered, hoping making his presence known would prevent seeing anything he didn’t want to see.  There was music and noise coming from the living room, so he headed in that direction, just praying he was not going to walk in on something.  Little did he know, he was going to walk in on something, just not the something he was expecting.

“How does she mean polka dot it?  How does polka dots dance?”

“It’s just what the move is called.  Look, I know you know how to do it, we’ve already learned that part.  Come on from the top.  Pop it.  Lock it.  Polka dot it.”  Kent was singing the dance moves along with the song as he hit play.  It wasn’t until he got to the “jump to the left” part where he turned to face the doorway where Jeff was watching he even realised they weren’t alone in the apartment anymore.  Alexei must have also noticed Jeff, because sure enough he was watching his boyfriend scoop Swoops up in a bear hug.

 “Ahh Swoops, you here.  Is nice to finally meet you in person.  Kenny is teaching me Hoedown Throwdown.  You know?  Come dance.”

Jeff was still recovering from the shock of everything he had just encountered.  He couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.  

“Um, no, I can’t say I know the dance because I am not twelve and this isn’t 2009!”  He was still laughing.  “This is so not what I thought I was walking into when you were too busy to answer the door.  Now are we having dinner or not because I’m starving?”

“Oh yes is dinner time.  Kenny is working me up an appetite.  We finish later?”  The last question Alexei directed toward his boyfriend.

“Sure, fine, let’s eat.”

The three of them all headed off to the kitchen where dinner was waiting to be eaten.

**Author's Note:**

> I know that isn't really an ending but every time I tried to end this it just kept growing so I had to just stop. It's not like there is much plot in this anyway just a bunch of fluff.
> 
> I am Kent Parson and Patater trash so come join me on [tumblr](aokayinspace.tumblr.com)!


End file.
